The present invention relates generally to automatic fare collection and ticketing devices and systems and specifically to smart card systems for purchasing tickets or passes to be stored on a smart card.
Smart cards are being used in an increasingly wide variety of applications. One such application is the use of smart cards to provide payment and ticketing capability for mass transit users. Smart cards have found applications in many other areas including pay phones, health care, banking, identity and access, pay television, gaming, metering and vending. Retail businesses utilize smart cards to encourage return business, such as the use of smart cards to obtain a discount on merchandise or to gain points that are redeemable for cash or merchandise.
Smart cards generally include one or more smart chips or integrated circuits (xe2x80x9cICxe2x80x9d) located within the body of the card to receive and store information or applications. The ICs can be read-only or have read/write capability. Reusable smart cards with read/write capability allow users to add time or value to payment-type smart cards, thus avoiding the inconvenience of having to carry currency, or, in the case of mass transit, exact change, for each usage. The smart card will also contain interface means, which will depend on whether the smart card is a contact-type or contactless smart card. Contactless cards will contain an antenna structure for communication with an RF source, and typically include circuitry adapted for deriving operating power from the RF signal.
The smart card is a small, usually credit card shaped, device that contains at least a memory device, typically an embedded integrated circuit, for storing information and applications and a transceiver to communicate with a smart card communication device. The smart card communication device communicates through the transceiver on the smart card to access the stored information. The smart card communication device may simply read the information, load the information into the memory device or modify existing data in the memory device. For example, if the owner of a smart card uses a smart card containing financial information to make a purchase, the smart card communication device can read the information including the cardholder""s identity and the availability of funds. The smart card communication device can also deduct the purchase amount from available funds if it has writing capabilities. Further, the communication device can store transaction data on the smart card including the time and location of the transaction in addition to the identity of the communication device.
Traditionally, when patrons or cardholders purchase tickets for using their smart card, the smart card systems have utilized serial communications and proprietary protocols to deliver content and collect data from fare collection equipment located at stations and depots. In addition, the communications to a Central System are via an intermediate communications controller. When a cardholder wishes to add time or value to payment-type smart cards, all the data is immediately written on to the card via a writing device. As a result, the cardholder must have access to a writing device, such as a card reader, at the time of purchase. Furthermore, these types of systems tie up network traffic and require large storage requirements at access devices in the field.
It is an object of the present invention to deliver transport ticketing of any kind, fare payment and loyalty award solutions via the Internet.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet based interface to smart card ticket systems to increase the ability to sell and process transit payments, to support a shift to a more cash-less environment, to purchase or authorize tickets over the Internet, to collect the tickets at the access device or fare collection equipment, and to support ticketing, or other applications, that are non-transit related.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide applications for use with the Internet based interface for contact or contactless smart card (CSC) purchase and registration, CSC personalization, CSC transit application tracking, and CSC non-transit application purchase and loading.
In the present invention, an automatic Travel, Transport or Event system utilizes a server containing a database or databases to store information related to accounts of individual patrons or cardholders. The database(s) can be accessed by the cardholder by using a terminal containing a browser, such as a personal computer or personal digital assistant. Once accessed, the patron can purchase entry permits, such as travel tickets, fares and passes. The purchase is not automatically downloaded onto the card at the time of purchase, so the patron is not required to have access to a card reader when purchasing the entry permits.
When the patron or cardholder presents the card at an access device, such as a check in device, gate, kiosk or validator, the entry permit associated with that access device is downloaded and written to the card. The other entry permits that were purchased remain as pending transactions on the server or in other pertinent devices. As an example, if a patron purchases a subway ticket, a travel ticket, a ticket to a baseball game and an event ticket, when the patron presents his or her card at an access device at a subway station, the subway ticket is written to the card, but the other tickets remain pending on the server or in other appropriate devices. When the patron later presents his or her card at an access device at the baseball game, or Airport/Seaport, the appropriate pre purchased ticket is written to the card.